TL;DR: Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Episode 9 delivers a powerful character-driven story that puts Yuji Itadori’s guilt from the Shibuya Incident on trial through Hiromi Higuruma’s domain expansion. The episode focuses less on action and more on emotional depth, exploring Yuji’s willingness to accept responsibility for the destruction caused by Sukuna while reshaping Higuruma’s understanding of justice. With strong direction from MAPPA and meaningful character development, this episode becomes one of the most psychologically impactful installments of the Tokyo Colony arc.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 3
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Episode 9 Review: Yuji Itadori Finally Faces the Weight of Shibuya
Every so often, Jujutsu Kaisen hits an episode that reminds me why the series stands in a completely different emotional league than most modern shonen. Yes, it has stunning animation. Yes, the fight choreography regularly melts social media timelines. But what really makes Jujutsu Kaisen work is its willingness to sit inside the psychological wreckage left behind after those fights are over. Season 3 episode 9, titled Tokyo No. 1 Colony, Part 3, is exactly that kind of episode. Instead of leaning into spectacle, it digs deep into the emotional fallout of the Shibuya Incident and forces Yuji Itadori to confront the kind of guilt that most protagonists would never willingly accept.
When I first watched the episode, I expected the confrontation between Yuji and Hiromi Higuruma to escalate into another visually explosive brawl. After all, the Culling Game arc has been moving at a breakneck pace, constantly throwing new sorcerers, cursed techniques, and moral dilemmas at the audience. But this episode slows things down in a fascinating way. MAPPA takes the courtroom mechanics of Higuruma’s domain expansion and turns them into something far more unsettling than a typical anime fight. The real battle here isn’t physical strength or cursed energy output. It’s a moral reckoning, and Yuji walks into it with a level of honesty that fundamentally shifts the direction of the story.
The entire episode takes place inside Higuruma’s domain expansion, Deadly Sentencing, which remains one of the most conceptually brilliant abilities introduced in Jujutsu Kaisen. Instead of overwhelming opponents with raw power, the domain forces them into a courtroom trial where accusations are presented by a shikigami known as Judgeman. Evidence is evaluated, verdicts are delivered, and punishments are carried out based on the outcome. The first accusation aimed at Yuji is almost comically mundane: entering a casino while underage. The moment feels oddly out of place in the middle of a life-or-death confrontation, and that awkwardness is very much intentional. Higuruma’s domain thrives on the cold procedural nature of law, where crimes are evaluated without emotional context.
Yuji is found guilty almost immediately, which removes his access to certain advantages in the fight. In most battle anime, that kind of handicap would be the dramatic turning point that leads to a clever counterattack or a sudden power-up. Instead, the episode uses the retrial mechanic to introduce something far heavier. Judgeman announces a second accusation, and suddenly the atmosphere inside the domain shifts from strange to suffocating. The new charge is mass murder in Shibuya on October 31, 2018. Anyone who watched the Shibuya Incident arc knows exactly what this refers to. When Sukuna temporarily took control of Yuji’s body, the King of Curses unleashed catastrophic destruction that wiped out entire sections of the city and killed countless civilians.
The emotional weight of that moment has lingered over the series ever since, but hearing it formally presented as a criminal charge adds an entirely new dimension to it. What makes the scene so powerful is Yuji’s reaction. He doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t try to clarify that Sukuna was responsible. He doesn’t argue technicalities about control over his own body. He simply accepts the accusation and pleads guilty. The immediate consequence of that admission is the activation of the Death Penalty within Higuruma’s domain. Higuruma receives the Sword of Execution, a weapon capable of killing its target instantly with a single strike.
From a storytelling perspective, this is the moment where Jujutsu Kaisen completely dismantles the typical shonen hero template. Yuji has every reason to argue his innocence. Logically, he was not responsible for the massacre in Shibuya. Sukuna is an independent entity with his own will and monstrous ambitions. Yet Yuji refuses to separate himself from those actions. The reason goes back to something that has defined his character since the beginning of the series. His grandfather’s final wish was simple but profound: use your strength to help people. That idea shaped Yuji’s entire worldview. He became someone who measured his worth by how many lives he could save.
The tragedy of Shibuya is that his body became the instrument of unimaginable destruction instead. Even though Yuji knows Sukuna was in control, the fact that the devastation happened through him makes it impossible for him to emotionally detach from it. This episode explores that psychological burden in painful detail. Yuji’s guilt is not a passing moment of regret or a temporary character beat. It is a defining force that drives every decision he makes moving forward.
The series has hinted at this mindset before. After the Shibuya Incident, Yuji threw himself into fighting curses with almost reckless determination. He sought out battles not because he enjoyed them, but because he felt an obligation to restore some kind of moral balance to the world. The logic is heartbreaking in its simplicity. If Sukuna killed hundreds through his body, then Yuji needs to save hundreds in return. That constant push toward self-sacrifice has become the core of his identity.
Episode 9 brings that internal struggle into the open through Yuji’s interaction with Higuruma. When Higuruma first appears in the Culling Game, he is already deeply disillusioned. His previous life as a defense attorney exposed him to the worst failures of the justice system. Innocent people were crushed by legal bureaucracy, corrupt prosecutors manipulated cases, and truth often mattered less than procedural outcomes. When his cursed technique awakened, that frustration turned into violent nihilism. Higuruma began killing other sorcerers participating in the Culling Game, convinced that justice itself was meaningless.
His domain expansion reflects that cynicism. Deadly Sentencing is designed to pass judgment, but it does so with a kind of mechanical detachment that mirrors the legal systems Higuruma came to despise. When Yuji pleads guilty to the Shibuya massacre, Higuruma expects the response to fit into his worldview. He assumes Yuji is simply another human trying to justify his actions. Instead, Yuji accepts responsibility without hesitation. That level of honesty completely disrupts Higuruma’s assumptions about people.
Watching Higuruma process that realization is one of the most compelling aspects of the episode. The fight gradually transforms into a philosophical conversation about accountability, guilt, and the meaning of justice. Yuji does not argue that he deserves forgiveness. He simply states that he will continue fighting to save others, even if it means carrying the weight of those deaths forever. That perspective forces Higuruma to confront his own actions during the Culling Game. If Yuji can acknowledge the consequences of something he technically did not control, then Higuruma must acknowledge the people he intentionally killed.
MAPPA’s direction during these scenes deserves special recognition. The studio is famous for its explosive animation sequences, but this episode proves that restraint can be just as powerful. The pacing slows down significantly, allowing conversations and facial expressions to carry the emotional impact. Subtle shifts in lighting, camera angles, and character posture reinforce the tension inside the courtroom domain. Yuji stands with the quiet resignation of someone who believes punishment is inevitable. Higuruma, on the other hand, gradually shifts from detached judge to conflicted participant.
The episode ultimately reaches its turning point when Yuji convinces Higuruma to use his accumulated points in the Culling Game to create a new rule allowing players to transfer points to one another. Strategically, this is a major development for the arc because it opens the door for alliances and coordinated strategies among participants. More importantly, it represents Higuruma rediscovering a sense of purpose. The man who had lost faith in justice begins to believe again that people can choose responsibility over selfishness.
Yuji Itadori’s journey in Jujutsu Kaisen has always been defined by the consequences of hosting Sukuna. Episode 9 makes it clear that those consequences extend far beyond physical danger. The psychological burden of the Shibuya Incident will follow him for the rest of his life. Even if the world eventually recognizes that he was not responsible for the massacre, Yuji will continue to carry that guilt as part of who he is.
This episode stands out as one of the most emotionally resonant chapters of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3. Instead of relying on action spectacle, it focuses on character psychology and moral complexity. Yuji’s willingness to accept blame for something beyond his control transforms what could have been a straightforward battle into a powerful exploration of justice, trauma, and personal responsibility.
